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8
The area of the Southern Division amounts to 199 acres, and
the estimate is 108.6 people to the acre.
It will be noted that owing to the large open spaces in the
Northern Division the number of people to the acre is only about
one-fourth that of the Southern Division.
Births—Birth-rate—During the year 1898 there were 839 births
registered in the Parish; of these 439 were males, and 400 were
females. The birth-rate per 1,000 per annum was therefore 24.5,
as against 24.7 for the preceding year, and 24.6 for 1896. The rate
for England and Wales was 29.4, that for London generally was
29.5, and that for the 33 great towns was 30.3.
The part which the rather low birth-rate plays in favouring the
low general death-rate of the Parish is duly accounted for in
arriving at the corrected death-rate.
MORTALITY.
General Mortality.—There were 381 deaths registered of parishioners
who were resident in the Parish, and 85 of parishioners who
died in Public Institutions without the Parish, making a total of
466 deaths of parishioners. Of these deaths 242 were of females,
and 224 were of males.
The recorded general death-rate is therefore 13.6, as against 14.0
in the preceding year, and 12.4 in 1896. This ordinary death-rate,
however, cannot be taken as a true index of the healthiness of the
Parish, nor can it be justly compared with the rates of other
Sanitary areas, unless some allowance is made for the relative
proportions of males and females at different ages in the districts
compared.
Death-rates vary very much in different districts according to
the natures of the populations of these districts; for instance, in a
district containing a large number of very young or very old people,
the rate would be considerably higher than in a district consistin
almost entirely of people of middle age.